Algeria announced on Tuesday that it was withdrawing its ambassador to Paris after France recognised autonomy within Morocco as the “only” solution to the decades-long Western Saharan dispute.

In a letter to Morocco’s King Mohammed VI, congratulating him on his 25th coronation anniversary, French President Emmanuel Macron stated that Rabat’s autonomy plan for Western Sahara is “the only basis that will lead to a just, lasting, and negotiated political solution.”

This statement prompted an angry response from the pro-independence Polisario Front and its main supporter, Algeria.

The Algerian foreign ministry, as reported by Algeria’s APS news agency, declared, “The Algerian diplomatic representation in France is now the responsibility of a charge d’affaires,” and criticised the move as “a step that no other French government had taken before.”

Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony, is largely controlled by Morocco but is claimed by the Polisario Front, which declared a “self-defense war” in 2020, seeking the territory’s independence.

The United Nations considers it a “non-self-governing territory” and has aimed to organize a referendum on the territory’s future.

However, Morocco has consistently rejected any vote that includes independence as an option.

In his letter, Macron emphasised, “The pursuit of the economic and social development of this region is imperative.”

He commended Morocco’s efforts and assured, “France will support it in this approach for the benefit of local populations.”

The Moroccan royal court praised Macron’s comments as “a significant step in support of Moroccan sovereignty” over Western Sahara.

Meanwhile, the Polisario Front criticized the French president for supporting what they termed the territory’s “violent and illegal occupation” by Morocco.